Maddie Hendricks shook her lovely head, her hair hung in long beautiful curls. Maddie’s eyes were resting on her seven-year-old daughter. How was she going to get the twenty dollars? She barely could make ends meet now.

Looking at Gwen now she about wanted to cry. Gwen’s intense green eyes stared back at her mother.

“Mom please, I just gotta have the money. I want to pay the flute. Everyone tried out, but Betsy and me were the best. I can rent the flute for just twenty dollars.”

“Gwen, please be reasonable, we just don’t have the extra money.” Looking at her daughter now, Maddie felt like the worst parent ever. Sighing now she asked her daughter. “How long do you have till you need the money?”

“Mr. Edwards says we have to have it by next Friday.” Gwen’s eyes lit up just a little.

“Almost two weeks, I’ll see what I can do, Gwen, no promises but if I can, it will also have to be your Birthday Gift, I’m afraid.”

Gwen gulped a little before she said she understood. Her daughter looked so much like herself with those red curls, but she had her dad’s blue eyes.

Maddie knew that she really shouldn’t have told her this. It wasn’t something she could pray about was it? She was on thin ice with God already, after months of her blaming Him for Randy’s death.

Randy had gone to work that morning in a hurry as usual. He kissed her and Gwen good-by and headed to work as he did countless times before. But less than a block from his job his car collided with a bread truck. The accident had been Randy’s fault; he had turned in front of the truck.

Having just paid off all the bills that mounted since then, she had little; she had to sell the house to pay for the man’s truck and hospital bill. They had no insurance. Also there was the expense of Randy’s funeral. She also had to find an apartment for her and Gwen to live in. They were living on just her income now, and it made a huge difference, it was a tight budget with little else but the necessities.

It was times like this that she missed her loving husband even more. His gentle way with them, they were not rich then, but together as they took their problems to the Lord and prayed they had found an answer for almost everything. Now she must find a way, she just had to think.

She was so worn out; she would tackle this problem in the morning. Tonight before she drifted off to sleep she must pray to God and ask Him for help and guidance. It felt good to release the anxiety of the last few months. Sleep soon claimed her, resting for the first time in a long time.

The next morning Maddie woke up with an idea. With her decision made she would do it.

Having never done this before she stood in front of the door to the pawn shop. She knew that her wedding ring was worth a lot, more than Randy should have paid for it, but he wanted her to have a nice one.

Walking into the shop now, she mustard up her courage to take care of this transaction.

“What can I do for you miss? The portly man looked at her.

“I need some money and I want to sell you this ring.”

The man looked at her and then at the ring, as he rubbed his stocky beard. “Well now, I can give you a couple of hundred for the ring. No more. I’ll hold it for three weeks. After that it’s mine. Take it or leave it, miss.”

Thinking of Gwen, she told the man she would take the money. True, the two hundred dollars was far less than the original amount paid for her ring. But when it comes to one’s children sometimes one does not wait for another possible answer. This gave her the twenty dollars and she could afford to get Gwen a Birthday gift also. Her rash decision gave her an answer.

When she returned home she pick-up her mail. Looking through it she noticed something from the hospital. “Please don’t let this be another bill, please!”

Inside the envelope was a short letter and with that laid a check for fifty dollars, where they stated that she had overpaid them.

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Good story with a moral on not jumping ahead of God. I wonder if you could add a little more at the end so the reader experiences how the woman felt when she opened that envelope. (What she thought etc.)